Computers and other electronic products, e.g., digital televisions, digital cameras, and cellular phones, often have a memory device to store data and other information. Some conventional memory devices may store information based on the amount of charges on a storage node of a memory cell. The storage node usually includes semiconductor material such as silicon. Different values of the charge on the storage node may represent different values (e.g., binary values “0” and “1”) of a bit of information stored in the memory cell.
Other conventional memory device (e.g., phase change memory devices) may store information based on a resistance state of a memory element of the memory cell. The memory element may have a material that can change between different phases (e.g., crystalline and amorphous phases) when programmed. Different phases of the material may cause the memory cell to have different resistance states with different resistance values. The different resistance states of the memory element may represent different values of the information stored in the memory.
Some conventional phase change memory devices may apply an electrical current during programming of the memory cell to cause the memory element to heat to some temperature to change the phase of the material of the memory element. The heat from the memory element may transfer to other features such as electrodes that are coupled to the memory element. In some cases, the heat transfer to the electrodes may affect the programming operation and performance of the device.